Nuclear Reactions vs.

Chemical Changes

Nuclear reactions involve the nucleus (protons and neutrons and electrons)
(change of element).

Chemical Reactions involve electrons (bonding) (no change of element).

The opening of the nucleus releases a tremendous amount of energy.
Chemical reactions involve releases of smaller amounts of energy.

What is Radiation?
When an unstable isotope nucleus decays (to become more stable), radiation is
released. This releases a tremendous amount of energy. The element decays into
a new element.

There are three types of radiation:

Type
Alpha

Relative Size and

Composition
Large

Penetration
Sheet of Paper

Helium Nucleus (positive

Beta

+)
Very Small Electrons

Aluminum Foil

(negative -)
Gamma

Not a particle, only

Lead Shielding

energy
(no size, no charge)

Compare and contrast fission and fusion.

Fission is the process of breaking larger, unstable atoms apart into smaller ones.

Fission releases tremendous amounts of energy.

Nuclear power plants

Fusion is the process of fusing together smaller elements to make larger ones.

Fission releases tremendous amounts of energy.

Occurs in the sun and other stars.

How does nuclear fusion create all elements heavier than helium?
Fusion In stars, nuclear fusion of hydrogen atoms with other elements creates elements
with even larger atomic numbers.
What are the pros and cons to nuclear energy as an alternative energy source?

Pros :

Nuclear energy does not cause air pollution.

Cons:

There is a limited amount of nuclear fuel.

The spent fuel is radioactive, causing a transportation and storage issue.

The water used in the cooling process can cause problems when released
into the environment.

Half-Life
How is the process of half-life related to radioactive decay?

Half-life is the average time for one-half of a radioisotope to decay into more
stable isotopes.

The amount of the radioisotope follows the sequence , , 1/8, 1/16 0 after
each half-life.

Half-Life Problems:

The half-life of tritium, H-3 is 12 years. If you start with 200 g of tritium, then
how many half-lives have passed if you only have 25 g remaining?

200 g becomes 100 g (1 half-life)

100 g becomes 50 g (2 half-lives)

50 g becomes 25 g (3 half-lives)

Ans. 3 half-lives.

The half-life of Ra-222 is 3.8 seconds. How much of a 200 g sample remains
after 11.4 seconds?
o

# half-lives = 11.4 sec/3.8 sec = 3

After 0 half-life

= 200 g (0 s)

After 1 half-life

= 100 g (3.8s)

After 2 half-lives

= 50 g

(7.6s)

After 3 half-lives

= 25 g

(11.4s)

No one can say for sure when a particular nucleus will decay but one can predict how many in a
given sample will decay over time. Radioactive elements have a half-life. The half life of any
given element is the time that is required for one half of the sample to decay. So if you have 10
grams of a radioactive element, after one half-life there will be 5 grams of the radioactive
element left. After another half-life, there will be 2.5 g of the original element left, after another
half-life, 1.25 g will be left. The equation for half-life calculations is as follows:

Nuclear Chemistry Questions

1. One isotope of Br has a half-life of 16.5 hours. How much of a 2.00 gram sample remains
at the end of 1.00 day?

2. If 160 grams of a 200 gram sample of gold-198 decay in 6.25 days, what is the half-life
of gold-198?

3. A 50.0 g sample of nitrogen-16 decays to 12.5 g in 14.4 seconds. What is its half-life?

4. How much of a 100.0 g sample of gold-198 is left after 8.10 days if its half-life is 2.70
days?

5. There are 5.0 g of iodine-131 left after 40.35 days. How many grams were in the original
sample if its half-life is 8.07 days?

6. How many days must elapse for a 0.80 mg sample of iodine-131 in the thyroid to decay
to 0.10 g.

Nuclear Equations
Nuclear notations are used to represent the decay of one element into another. The generic
formula for a radioactive element is as follows:

Some examples of nuclear decay equations are:

LOCOM-> You must balance the mass and the charge on both sides. The new numbers tell you
the elements identity.

131

I
53

-1

242

He

H +

Fill in the missing particle:

He

258

96

Fm 257100Fm +

-1

n
0

100

Fill in the missing particle: ? +

Cm

Solve the equation:

244
94

Pu

Challenge problems:
1. The half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years. If a sample of wood is found
to have only 13.2% of its original carbon-14 remaining, how old is the
piece of wood?
2. Identify the missing coefficient in the following nuclear reaction:

235
92

U + 10n ____10n + 13956Ba + 9436Kr

3. Phosphorus-15 has a half-life of 14 days. What proportion of the

original phosphorus-15 remains after 8 weeks?
4.

If an atom of polonium (atomic number 84) undergoes a conversion

to lead (atomic number 82) by the loss of a single particle, what is it?